Feedback & Reports

A cracking days fishing with the first Barbel being landed at 0540 it was then a 2 hour wait for the next one, but it was worth it. The Barbel then came thick and fast with an average of one every 45 minutes interspersed with Chub. All fish were in excellent condition with the largest being 9 lb 2 oz and the smallest 4 1/2 lb. They were caught using a variety of baits from boilies to pellet. It must be said that of the total catch all but 2 Barbel and 1 Chub were caught by one angler who had to land a total of 114 lb of Barbel. A good tip for anyone going fishing on the river this early in the season is to take a machete to clear swims as some were quite overgrown.

18 Barbel, 9 Chub

No salmon activity in this area today. Beware of nesting swans on the bank near the bottom end of the beat as they did not offer a pleasant greeting...lol
A small sign to indicate a location of the pool access would have been nice as the banks are steep and over grown with nettle. Cheers

Nothing caught but salmon briefly took hold in the Parsons Stream. Ford Stream is a great piece of fly water.

Description of the beat was OK but two points worth mentioning. Parsons Stream is a relatively easy wade in medium to low water. Your description of it being difficult is a little off putting since it is not easily fished from the bank. Ford Stream has a get out ladder at the tail but is a trcky wade in deep water to reach it (with 1ft on the guage.)The alternative is an equally tricky wade back upstream against a strong current. The main holding pool, Rope Pool, can be fished with fly towards the tail but would benefit from having some branches lopped back to open up more water.
I enjoyed my day but think the adjacent Goodrich Court Beat probably offers better opportunities for the fly fisher.
WUF Note: we will look into these recommendations for beat improvement.

4lb Chub on the plug.

1 Chub

Nil

Both fish around 3lb mark caught on the plug, river in perfect condition, water very lightly coloured.

1 Chub, 1 Pike

Very cold day on the Y, nice to see the wildlife the river was very high pushing through, no barbel.

3 Chub

Weather was horrible. Couldn't fish where we really wanted to due the wet conditions.

1 Barbel, 1 Chub

Very slow indeed despite good conditions. One bite, one fish- a decent chub.

1 Chub

Only 2 of us fished today due to work problems for the other 2 booked in. 4 barbel caught by one of us, blank for the second rod.

4 Barbel